Pneumococcal disease can affect people at any age, though incidence is highest among children under two and adults over 65. People with chronic conditions or weakened immune systems are also at greater risk.
Yet only 34.19% of people over 65 in Spain had received a conjugate pneumococcal vaccine in 2024, according to the Ministry of Health’s Sivamin information system. At a training session organised by the Instituto Superior de Formación Sanitaria (ISFOS), part of the Consejo General de Enfermería, nurses and other health professionals called for stronger adult vaccination efforts and more active outreach to people eligible under current recommendations. MSD supported the session.
The gap matters because pneumococcal infection can cause pneumonia or meningitis. Severe infections can also lead to sepsis. Isabel Jimeno, a family doctor and head of the vaccine group at the Sociedad Española de Médicos Generales y de Familia (SEMG), said vaccination was the most effective way to prevent the bacteria from causing more serious problems. She cited figures of 463 cases per 100,000 people under 18 and 1,400 per 100,000 among those over 65 in Spain.
Participants said adult vaccination has received less attention than childhood immunisation. M.ª Ángeles Navarro, a nurse at Centro de Salud Lorca Centro in Murcia, described adult pneumococcal coverage as a public-health challenge, warning that the disease can lead to hospitalisation or death. Patricia Pérez, vice-president of the Consejo General de Enfermería, said nurses can assess people at higher risk and review their vaccination history, then advise them on vaccination in line with current guidance.
That work could include active outreach from primary care. Pérez proposed identifying eligible people who have not yet been vaccinated and contacting them by text message, notification or post. She said such systems are already used in some parts of Spain but are not available across the whole country. She also called for sufficient staffing and organisational resources. The Ministry of Health reported that in 2024 roughly one in four specialists in family and community-health nursing worked in primary care.
Coverage figures differ from application counts used for other public schemes, such as the Bono Cultural Joven figures: the pneumococcal measure records people vaccinated. Navarro and Pérez argued that prevention should be presented as relevant throughout adulthood, including for people who feel healthy and remain active.
